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dsomers
8th March 2003, 05:48
Does anyone know anything about the Kata Geisaku Sho ? It is also known as The Golden Crane , or Golden Swan Kata . It is practiced in many of The Americanized Goju systems , as well as Shorei Shobukan .

David

Gene Williams
8th March 2003, 11:59
Hi, I learned the kata years ago from a Goju practitioner, but quit doing it because no one else in orthodox Shito-ryu, Shorin-ryu, or other Okinawan styles ever heard of it. I asked Morio Higaonna at a clinic once and he had never heard of it, and he is, to me, the premier Goju practitioner. I think it is probably a latter day kata, developed by someone either in the dojo or from sections of Chinese kata put together. I think a couple of my students still do it when I am not looking. I just don't want to give time to a kata that is not one of the commonly practiced kata of the Shuri/Naha traditions. The kata is not mentioned in any of the major works on Okinawan karate, minor ones, either. Kuniba once played around during a break when someone asked him if he knew any Chinese kata. He promptly showed us a kata with a lot of "flashy" moves. Several people learned it and ran it all weekend. He called it Gisaki Sho. A few days later when we asked him what it meant, he smiled, grabbed his gi lapel and said,"Gi", then made a drinking move with his hand and said, "Saki", then held up his index finger like # 1 and said with a grin, "ichiban." Everyone quit doing it then. Gene

gojuryudojo
8th October 2013, 03:42
Golden crane or Gesaku Sho was developed by Peter Urban founder of USA Goju Ryu. O sensei Peter Urban trained with Gogen Yamaguchi who formed Goju Kia. Osensei Urban started USA Goju when he returned to the states after WW2. It is not of okinawan origin. But realize Osensei Urban traned with Masoyama, Richard Kim, and Gogen Yamaguchi, so USA Goju was a mixture of three great masters. Hooe this helps...